Five Things: Jake Oreshan III

Five Things I Can’t Live Without

By Suzanne Kawola/Life@Home

“Like every little kid, all I ever wanted to do was be a fireman, literally, from the time I could remember,” says Jake Oreshan, deputy chief of New York State’s Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services. When he was 16, Oreshan joined the Boght Community Fire Department and fell in love with it.

“I’m third generation,” he says. “It meant a lot to me to do it with my dad.” His father still does it, as does his grandfather and sister.

In his current position, Oreshan is responsible for refresher training and specialized training for first responders throughout the state. He specializes in chemical suicides, a near-instant death achieved by mixing common household chemicals into a lethal cloud of gas. He lectures throughout the country and teaches responders about how to safely manage the rising problem.

In the process, he’s collaborated with other states to establish guidelines. “I’ve worked on a national level and come up with national guidelines for first responders to these incidents,” he says. Last June, he was interviewed by The New York Times as a consultant for an article on the disturbing trend. “The day before the article was published, there was a chemical suicide in Stillwater,” he says.

Oreshan says that when he thought about what he couldn’t live without, he realized there was a lot he could.

These are Jake’s Five Things:

1. My phones: Plural? “Plural! Blackberry and iPhone … the two things I could not live without.” They help him stay connected to both his direct staff and nationwide contacts, allowing him to stay on the frontlines of his job on a regular basis.

2. My Mac Book: “I’d be lost without my computer!” he says. “My life is on that. My phones are connected to it. I don’t go anywhere without it. Between writing classes, writing articles, keeping track of my schedule … everything in my life is on that notebook!”

3. My Swimming Pool: “Then, to get away from the electronics, is my swimming pool,” Oreshan says. “During the summer, that’s my release. I don’t know why they call them swimming pools, because we don’t swim; we just float in it. Every day after work we go home and float in the pool and unwind. To me, that’s life. It’s putting everything on hold for a couple of hours and letting yourself go. It’s soothing.”

4. My Leather Fire Helmet: “A couple of years ago for Christmas, my wife bought me a leather fire helmet. It meant the world to me. Every time I put it on, it reminds me of my family.” Why leather? “It’s old school, tradition,” Oreshan says. “It’s a very personal item. Over time, the helmet actually molds to the shape of your head.”

5. Being a Firefighter: “I’ve been doing it for 24 years. I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have it. The adrenaline, the satisfaction, the camaraderie, the closeness — I don’t know how I’d live without it, honestly.” To Oreshan, it’s not work. “It amazes me every day [that] I come here and this is my job, this is what I get to do.” Teaching is one of his favorite parts. “I am very passionate about fire service education!”